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Staying close to home was deciding factor for Spanish Fort LB Chason Milner in selecting school

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Spanish Fort linebacker Chason Milner poses for a photo at Wednesday's announcement ceremony at the Toros' gymnasium in which he signed a national letter of intent with South Alabama. (Photo by Tommy Hicks)

Miller joined five other Spanish Fort football players who announced their college choices at a signing ceremony and announcement Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the school's gymnasium.

"It's a very special day for me,'' Milner said just before the ceremony. "I'm very excited to have to opportunity to play college football today. I'm ready to get over there today. I told family members earlier I wish I had graduated early so I could be over there now getting ready. I'm ready to graduate and I'm ready to be a part of this team.''

Milner, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound outside linebacker who could possibly also be use as a defensive end, was injured int he third game of the Toros' state championship season. He suffered a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee and missed the remainder of the season.

"That was probably the worst experience of my life,'' Milner said. "But it's brought me through and made me a stronger person. It was one of the major deciding factors actually I looked at it and said if I went to college and got hurt, where would I want to be? Would I want to be somewhere off where I can't see my family? Or would I rather be at home where, even if I can't play football, I can see my family and do all the things I do outside of football. That was the deciding factor for me.''

South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said he is happy to have Milner in the Jaguars' 2014 signing class and added he isn't worried about any long-term problems associated with Milner's injury.

"Chason has great character and he's a really good athlete,'' Jones said. "The thing he brings is versatility. He'll be able to be a stand-up guy and come off the edge or he could put his hand on the ground and be a defensive end. He could be a big Mike linebacker. He has a lot of skill sets that we'll be able to use. That's what we liked about him was his versatility.

"Our experience with ACL injuries is (players) rarely have problems when they come back, so we feel real good about the medical side of it.''

For Milner, the decision to choose South Alabama over several offers boiled down to an easy selection.

"For a while, over the summer when I was getting recruited heavily, it was tough deciding where I wanted to go and where I wanted to be and looking at my future and picturing where I could see myself at the end,'' He said. "Through decision-making processes and in the end, I came to the realization that I wanted to stay home and be a part of my local team and my local school and be there.''

Milner said he likes the signing class South Alabama is putting together, one that has a strong emphasis on defense.

"It's a great recruiting class. This is a big year for the defense. I'm excited to see where this thing takes off,'' he said.

Jones said he was pleased to be able to add another local player to the Jaguars' roster.

"I think it's always great (to sign area players),'' he said. "Certainly we start here. Every year we have different needs that we have to meet and that may or may not matchup, but it's always great to be able to sign a couple of local guys.''

Jones will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. to talk about the Jags' signing class.